Networks Ignore Fed Praise for Economy’s ‘Extraordinary Times’

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell expressed optimism about the “extraordinary times” for the U.S. economy right now at an event with business economists on Oct. 2.

Powell said, “The economy is strong, unemployment is near 50-year lows, and inflation is roughly at our 2 percent objective, and the baseline outlook of many forecasters in and outside the Fed is for more of the same.”

“This historically rare pairing of steady, low inflation and very low unemployment is a testament to the fact that we remain in extraordinary times,” he continued.

However, his positive views about the state of the economy did not make it into the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs that night. The networks’ silence contrasted with online and print publications that considered it important news.